Suspect in British soldier's slaying: 'I do not dispute I killed him'

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Photos:Photos: Attack in Southeast London

Attack in Southeast London – Lee Rigby was identified as the victim killed in a cleaver attack on May 22. He was a member of the 2nd Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. The brutal killing of Rigby shocked the United Kingdom, with Prime Minister David Cameron saying the act appears to have been a terrorist attack.

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Photos:Photos: Attack in Southeast London

Attack in Southeast London – Following his funeral, Royal Fusiliers carry Rigby's coffin out of the Bury Parish Church, on Friday, July 12.

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Attack in Southeast London – People line the streets to watch the funeral procession as it drives away from the church on July 12, in Bury, England.

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Attack in Southeast London – From left, Lyn Rigby, mother of the slain soldier, stepfather Ian Rigby and Lee's wife Rebecca Rigby grieve as Ian reads a family statement on Friday, May 24, in Bury, England.

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Attack in Southeast London – Flowers lay close to the scene where Rigby was killed on May 24, in London.

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Attack in Southeast London – A man places flowers near the scene on May 24.

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Attack in Southeast London – A police officer stands with flowers in a storm on Thursday, May 23, close to the crime scene in front of Woolwich Barracks in southeast London.

Attack in Southeast London – Flowers lie outside Woolwich Barracks on May 23.

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Attack in Southeast London – Soldiers walk outside Woolwich Barracks on Thursday, May 23, near where the soldier was killed.

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Attack in Southeast London – Notes and shirts sit outside Woolwich Barracks on May 23. The slain soldier was wearing a "Help for Heroes" shirt when he was killed.

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Attack in Southeast London – British soldiers stand guard outside the barracks on May 23.

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Photos: Attack in Southeast London – Britain's prime Minister David Cameron addresses media representatives at 10 Downing Street in London on May 23, a day after a soldier who was hacked to death in a London street by two suspected Islamist extremists.

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Attack in Southeast London – Members of the far-right English Defence League wear balaclavas as they gather outside a pub in Woolwich on Wednesday, May 22.

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Attack in Southeast London – EDL supporters confront police in Woolwich on May 22.

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Attack in Southeast London – EDL leader Tommy Robinson joins supporters at the crime scene on May 22.

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Attack in Southeast London – A police officer guards a tent that's been set up at the crime scene as investigations continue late May 22.

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Attack in Southeast London – Mary Warder brings flowers to the scene of the crime on May 22 to pay respects to the victim.

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Attack in Southeast London – Men place flowers near the scene on John Wilson Street.

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Attack in Southeast London – A police officer guards a blocked-off area in Woolwich on May 22.

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Attack in Southeast London – A general view of Woolwich Barracks, near the scene of the crime.

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Attack in Southeast London – Police officers block off a road in Woolwich.

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Attack in Southeast London – Forensic officers investigate the crime scene on May 22.

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Attack in Southeast London – Police walk to the scene in Woolwich on May 22.

Prosecutor outlines 'callous murder'

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Questioned by his defense lawyer, Adebolajo told jurors he was against British foreign policy but did not believe his Islamic views led him onto the path he had taken.

"Even before I became Muslim, I did not agree with foreign policy," he said, then describing an early memory of watching the Iraq war on television.

"Operation shock and awe -- I saw it unfold on BBC and CNN what not, and I was disgusted, you know. It was reported as if it was praiseworthy," he said.

"I knew that every one of those bombs was killing someone. I was disgusted."

When he was asked what his defense to the charge of murder was, Adebolajo said: "I am a soldier. I am a soldier of Allah," citing the ongoing war in Afghanistan.

"I understand that some people may not recognize this because we do not wear fatigues ... but we are still soldiers."

Lee Rigby's family in court

The prosecution says the suspects deliberately attacked an unarmed man from behind using a vehicle as a weapon, "and then they murdered him and mutilated his body with a meat cleaver and knives."

The killing of Rigby outside the Woolwich Barracks in southeast London on May 22 shocked the nation. He left behind a wife and a young son.

The soldier's relatives sat just meters away as Adebolajo spoke to the court.

"Obviously growing up, I never thought of killing a man. This is not something any average child thinks of. But when a soldier joins the army, he knows he will likely kill a man one day," Adebolajo said.

"When I became a jihad, I knew that one day I might end up killing a soldier."

He said the only way he knew that Rigby was a soldier was because of his backpack.

"No Muslim hopes to kill anybody," he said.

When asked about the planning of the attack, he likened it to a general in the British military planning an attack: "He knows people will die. This is what happens in war."

"He (Rigby) was a fusilier. He was a professional machine gun."

Adebolajo gave a matter-of-fact account of his actions at Woolwich. He said that striking Rigby with the car was not intended and that he got out of the car and killed him.

While pathologists told the court last week that the force of the impact rendered Rigby unconscious, Adebolajo disputed that, saying that through the cracked windscreen, he saw Rigby moving.

At that point, Rigby's widow left the court in tears.

He said he had already killed the soldier by the time his co-defendant got out of the car.

"I killed him because it was a command from Allah," he said.

Adebolajo said he had tried to travel to Somalia in 2010 but was captured in Kenya and returned to the UK.

Last week, the court heard the statement of forensic psychiatrist Tim McKinley, who interviewed Adebolajo three times while he was being treated at a hospital after being shot by police shortly after the attack on Rigby.

The psychiatrist described the defendant as polite and said he showed no signs of mental disorder, remorse or regret. Adebolajo told him he posed no threat to civilians, police or medical staff but would be a continued threat to the British military.